Bluebook® Citations to the
American Law Institute's Restatements of the Law
Correctly Citing the Date in a Legal Citation to an ALI Restatement of the Law
Citations to Restatements of the Law are among the most error-prone form of legal citation, and citing the wrong date is one of the most common errors. Citrus users generally take no interest in the date because Citrus will automatically correct incorrect dates or supply omitted dates in almost all citations to a Restatement. However, it is useful from time to time to know the correct form.
In particular, the Citrus support team often gets questions about why Citrus generates citations that differ from example citations in major citation authorities, so we would like you to know the correct rule. Although Citrus often generates Restatement citations that differ from examples in the Bluebook, we have yet to see an example of a Restatement citation in which the Bluebook example is correct and Citrus is wrong. If you become aware of a counter-example to this statement, please let us know.
Correct Bluebook citations to a Restatement of the Law include the year of publication as listed on the title page. However, the title page of the Restatements list at least two dates and they list the correct citation date last. The title page to Restatement (Third) of Prop.: Wills and Other Donative Transfers appears below.
As you can see, the promulgation date, which is the wrong date for legal citation purposes, is prominently listed in the center of the page. The correct date for citation purposes, which is the publication date, is given in small type at the bottom of the page.
Follow this link to see a list of ALI Restatements of the Law that Citrus will automatically maintain in Bluebook format.
